A game is an activity that involves contending with other people according to a set of rules. It may be a competitive sport such as basketball or chess or a non-competitive pastime such as playing cards or Monopoly. Some games are simple, such as Connect Four or Tic Tac Toe; others require much practice and may be a serious contest for millions of dollars, such as professional basketball or a board game like chess or poker. Games can be played for fun, for achievement or reward or even to relieve stress and tension. They can be enjoyed by amateurs, professionals or even by spectators, as when the public are entertained by a chess championship.
The word is also used to describe activities or situations that are not considered games but nevertheless evoke pleasure and other emotions and resemble the trials and tribulations of life. This use of the term is most common in a humorous context: ‘I was playing with my new toy but I think I broke it.’
Most games involve competing against an opponent, either a person or another computer or machine. A single-player game can be battled against oneself, against the environment or against chance (playing with a yo-yo is not generally considered a game unless there is a formidable opponent). A multiplayer game can have several independent opponents or teams; such games are typically easier to analyze formally using mathematical game theory.
To play a game means to use an agreed-upon set of rules to create an artificial situation in which an outcome depends on the participants’ skill, strategy and luck. While many games are characterized by having rules and an objective, the most important factor in defining whether something is a game is that it must be enjoyable for the players.
Video games are a hugely popular and profitable leisure activity, producing more revenue than the film industry. Nonetheless, they are also increasingly recognized as having the potential to have worldwide health impacts. As such, empirically understanding how well-being is affected by the playing of games is an important area for research.
The development of a game requires three primary stages, which are distinct from marketing and business decisions. First, the designer must define the gameplay and rules of the game. Secondly, a programmer must implement the game’s functionality using a programming language. Finally, a designer must design the graphics and sound of the game.
Many game developers work in large companies, but some are small businesses or independent producers, and the creation of a successful game can be an extremely challenging process. The emergence of online gaming, which is often highly addictive, has also raised concerns about the social impact of video games. Currently, few studies are available that investigate the relationship between game play and well-being, but there is a growing call for video games companies to make data about player behavior available for research. While a handful of efforts have combined server logs with survey data, this approach is likely to produce inconsistent results and does not allow for direct measures of gameplay.